Thursday, 29 April 2010

Comic Questionnaire!

Stolen from Mart!1. Did you read comics as a kid?I did. I can remember having The Beano bought for me from an early age, as well as reading the likes of Whizzer & Chips, The Dandy, and even the girls' comics my sister used to get, like Bunty. There were some great stories in those – I remember one about this weird mirror that turned everyone who looked into it into an evil(ish) reverse person. I've been trying to work out what that story was for years... I also used to get the weekly black and white Spider-Man comic Marvel UK published. I think I used to buy that myself from the local newsagent.

2. Who bought you your first comic?I think my dad used to buy Beano for me. It would be delivered every Saturday along with the paper. Same with 2000 AD when I switched to that slightly later.

3. Did you take any time away from comics? Why?There was a period from about 1989 to 1998 when I fell out of comics completely, chiefly because I was also into music and became much more interested in going to gigs and then, through the '90s when I was a music journalist, to clubs. Sex (well, some) and drugs and rock 'n' roll (well, dance music) distracted me from comics.

4. What brought you back into comics?I happened to wander into a comic shop in Camden one day and bought the first issues of Marvel's Heroes Return comics, when their characters came back from the Heroes Reborn universe. Avengers, Iron Man and Thor I think it was. Pretty soon after that I was hooked again.

5. Do you prefer getting comics monthly or in trades?Monthly. A big part of the attraction for me with comics is their serialized nature. I like that weekly-trip-to-the-comic-shop fix. Although I buy fewer comics these days, so it's not always weekly. But I'll pick up collections and graphic novels too.

6. Do you know the name of your Local Comic Shop (LCS)?Dave's in Brighton.

7. Does your LCS know your name?Nope, although a couple of them recognise me when I go in.

8. Do you own any old number 1 comics (must date before 1980)?Hmm... a few, yeah. At one point I did have some great old Neal Adams X-Mens and Steranko X-Mens and Captain Americas (not number 1s, I know, but still...), but I flogged them a while ago. Now I think I only have a few things from the '70s I picked up more recently, like Steve Gerber's Guardians of the Galaxy and Omega the Unknown, like that.

9. Do you own any original comic art?No, just a few signed graphic novels.

10. Do you bag and board your comics?Not really these days. But the comics I have in my mum and dad's loft – thousands of the buggers – are mostly bagged and in some cases boarded.

11. Where do you store your comics?See above, and also in the top of the wardrobe in my flat. There's a huge amount of space up there, so that's more than you'd think...

12. How many comics do you read right now, in either floppy or trade format?Something like ten or so comics per month, including Captain America, New Avengers, Batman and Robin, Stumptown, Rasl, Walking Dead, Unwritten, Invincible Iron Man and Ex Machina. And I'll get a new graphic novel every few months; I just picked up Dan Clowes' Wilson, for instance.

13. What would be your number one, all-time desert island, favourite comic series?Lucifer.

14. Do you follow comic creators on Twitter?I follow Ed Brubaker and Brian Michael Bendis, but I rarely remember to log on.

15. Do you have a favourite comic creator?Ed Brubaker.

16. Do you harbour any aspirations to create your own comics?Not really. I wrote a script for a friend once, and I used to write and draw my own comics when I was younger, but not anymore.

17. Do you access comic news online, if so where?Comics Reporter, Journalista, Newsarama, Comic Book Resources, Every Day is Like Wednesday, and Bleeding Cool, although the guy behind that one is a div.

Time to pick sides:

Marvel or DC?Marvel at first when I was a kid getting into Spider-Man and Captain America. Then DC. Then Marvel when I got back into comics, then DC for a while, and now mostly Marvel again.

Superman or Batman?Probably Batman, but I've followed both at various times.

Spider-Man or Wolverine?Spidey I guess, although I don't read any of those godawful current retro Amazing Spider-Mans. It's just dated.

Iron Fist or Luke Cage?I used to like Iron Fist years ago, but now Luke Cage is in New Avengers I follow him more. But I'm not that arsed about either of 'em really.

Nick Fury normal or Nick Fury Sam Jackson?Nick Fury normal.

Spandex or real life stories?Bit of both. Spandex for that weekly serialized fix, real life other times.

Golden Age or Silver Age or Modern Age?Modern Age. Golden and Silver Age comics are fun, but I prefer the more sophisticated approach of today's comics. Well, the good ones anyway (see question 12). The large majority of today's comics are pretty workmanlike.

Digital or paper?Paper.

Gotham or New York?New York, 'cos it's real and full of comics shops (and book shops – that's where I'll be going next time I'm over there).